Friday, June 6, 2008

Clean House Boot Camp:

Sometimes I have to admit I feel like a failure as a mom [and who doesn’t sometimes? I hope I’m not the only one…] I’ve always thought that one of my biggest regrets was not instilling good oral hygiene habits in my children [and how could they NOT get it when they were forced to brush twice a day?!?] Thank goodness that's been taken care of! But now I’ve realized that I haven’t properly taught my boys how to keep a house clean. And I mean BASIC cleanliness… Was it because they are BOYS [I sure hope not!], or because I was “forced” to clean the house every Saturday before I could do other things and didn’t want to enforce such tyranny on my own children? Or was it because it was just easier to ‘do it myself?’Whatever, I’ve come to see that I’ve raised a couple of guys who really have no idea where the trash can is, much less how to use it…so this summer “Clean House Boot Camp” has begun! We’re starting slow with setting a day aside for each to DO THEIR OWN LAUNDRY [and I know that there are many gasping in disbelief that we still do the laundry for our now young adult sons!] They know HOW to do laundry, and have done it on their own, but this summerLesson One: Doing Laundry on a REGULAR Basisand not only when you’re out of clean underwear. The sub-lesson is no clothes on the floor – you have a hamper for goodness’ sake! Use it. So far [four days in] the floor is clear in their rooms [after a little come-a-part from me] and they’ve both completed LOADS of their own. Yay! But what it their sustainability? And mine, for that matter. I feel like a nag, but hope they will thank me for it one day [or maybe I’ll get thanks from my dear daughter-in-laws one day, whoever they might be…] Lesson Two: Loading and Unloading the Dishwasher on a Regular Basis:We’re still working on this one… and can I tell you how very hard it is for me to let this go? I’ve avoided my [own!] kitchen for a day or two now! Hopefully all will be right with the world [in my house anyway] by the end of the night…

This was such an inspiration - we have recently had that same discussion in our household as our oldest son turns 13 this tuesday ... soo we have embarked on making sure he 1. washes the dishes after the dinner meals, 2. that he reuse his towel at least one extra time and then 3. he put all his laundry in the basket and then when full into the laundry room .. whew... so far we are getting better at 1 and we'll see this week about 2 and 3 LOL Thanks for sharing ..you are not alone in this quest LOL